DISCRIMINATION

Christian College Prof: I Was Fired for Welcoming LGBTQ Guest Speaker

“Letting students expect a world where you may be different is the message Mr. O’Keefe wanted his students to hear,” the professor’s lawyer said.

Oklahoma Christian University professor Michael O’Keefe, who taught at the school for over 40 years, was fired earlier this month after hosting an LGBTQ guest speaker. A lawyer now representing the teacher alleges discrimination, according to Oklahoma’s News 4. “Letting students expect a world where you may be different is the message Mr. O’Keefe wanted his students to hear. That’s the message this speaker delivered, not an advocacy of gay rights,” O’Keefe’s lawyer Kevin Jacobs said. “Unfortunately, that’s not permitted at Oklahoma Christian University today. It cost Mr. O’Keefe his job.” The openly gay speaker in question was a former adjunct teacher at the university for over 2o years. Legal action on the firing has not yet been initiated.